Wednesday, 28 April 2010

Thomson Reuters chief defends Goldman Sachs

Thomson Reuters chief executive officer Tom Glocer has defended Goldman Sachs, a client of the company, on his blog and suggested that commentators in "our media-driven society" have rushed to judgement.Glocer writes: "I seldom comment on contentious current events, let alone those that affect clients of Thomson Reuters. However, the intense global criticism of Goldman, Sachs prompts me to join the debate."No sooner had the SEC surprised the firm and the market with its charges of fraud relating to the structuring and marketing of a 2007 synthetic collateral debt obligation (CDO) offering, than commentators up to and including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown fell all over themselves to convict Goldman as being “morally bankrupt.”It just seems too easy and too politically expedient to jump on this bandwagon."Perhaps the firm will eventually be found liable of these charges, although I rather doubt it. But what happened to our prized principles of maintaining innocence prior to being proven guilty? What is it about our media-driven society that prompts normally thoughtful observers to rush to judgment --even those who couch their indictments in the form of “well, if they did do what the SEC accuses them of, they are [morally reprehensible]?"Glocer adds: "Enough already. Goldman has 36,000 employees, among them no doubt a couple of bad apples. Among them are also many upstanding, ethically decent mothers and fathers who deserve better than to be branded as the source of financial contagion." He concludes: "Goldman does not need me to defend them – they have far better lawyers on retainer. But when most of the world is ready to convict and condemn before trial, my sense of fairness suggests we should suspend judgment until the full story emerges."

1 comment:

Tom Glocer destroyed Reuters journalism as well as undermined journalist profession.Questionable Reuters'integrity shows its bias.Tom Glocer monetized and misleaded public by his unethical conduct.What's a shame

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I am a freelance journalist based in the UK and was deputy editor of Press Gazette, the journalists' magazine, from 1993 until 2006. I want to give an independent view on media matters.
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